I couldn't breathe. My lungs ached when I tried to take in a breath and it left me wincing in pain. Every part of me was in pain, really. Many of my ribs were certainly bruised, if not cracked, and my metal arm was dislocated and messed up. The knife wound on my other arm was bleeding heavily and I was getting woozy again.

"Hear me and rejoice. You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No. It is salvation. Universal scales tip towards balance because of your sacrifice. Smile. For even in death, you have become Children of Thanos."

I coughed hard, blood coming out of my mouth. Internal bleeding, probably. That slimmed down my chances of living.

To my side, I saw Loki standing and looking around. He caught my eye and gave me a very quick nod. A thank you.

Moments before, I had tried to shield him from an attack as he was focused on someone else. That nearly costed me my life. Well, it just might. It depends how the next ten minutes go to see if this Thanos kills me, I die from blood loss, or if the vast and unforgiving space does.

I was doubting more and more that I would get out of here alive. Even if I did, how would I survive after this? I'm in the middle of space on a completely destroyed ship with very little chance of someone finding us and saving us.

I could remember how it had happened. We were milling about the ship, getting ready to go to Earth and find refuge. I was so thrilled to be going home and taking all of these new friends with.

Then, and alarm had started blaring through the ship. We had been hit. The others around me hurried to escape pods and evacuation vessels. I was an idiot. I ran towards the danger. My stupid heroic instincts are what's going to get me killed. Maybe Bruce was right, I'm a hero. And it's going to get me killed.

"I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right... yet to fail nonetheless." I looked over to the new, deep voice to see a very tall one in golden armor. Thanos. He picked up a body and started to drag it closer.

When I saw who it was, I tried to move to stop him but exhaustion had taken away my abilities at this point. "Thor..." I gasped out and tried to do something- anything. Loki was unmoving, but there was something about his tenseness that showed me he was truly scared. He was also surrounded by Thanos' "children" and I understood his still figure.

"It's frightening," Thanos continued. "Turns the legs to jelly. But I ask you, to what end? Dread it, run from it- destiny arrives all the same. And now it's here. Or should I say, I am."

He put Thor down and got a grip on his head, forcing him to look our way. His eyes went to Loki first, then he spared a glance at me struggling on the ground. There was a silent plea of 'please don't do anything, please' and so I stopped trying to move.

"You talk too much," Thor said with a rasp and some blood.

Thanos ignored the jab and stared into Loki's soul. "The tesseract," he demanded. "Or, your brother's head."

I choked on a bloody inhale and whispered, "No." My body failed when I tried to sit up to quickly and I dropped back to the ground in pain.

Thanos started to move the gauntlet with the glowing purple stone in it closer to Thor's head. "I assume you have a preference?" he then asked.

In this moment, I was silent begging Loki to please do something so Thor would survive. Something, anything, just nothing that resulted in death.

"Oh, I do," Loki replied. I didn't like his tone. There was no desperation or terror. He was too clam and collected. "Kill away."

"No!" I said with more force this time. The "child" closest to me glared down at me and kicked the side of my head hard. My vision went black for a solid second and I went back down. I gasped for air and writhed on the ground in blinding pain. Tears leaked from my shut eyelids.

There was a silence, and I almost thought it wouldn't happen. Until it was pierced by a gut wrenching scream- Thor's.

And then, "All right, stop!" Loki's yell ended the screams of pain and all I heard after was pained gasping from Thor. I took a chance and opened my eyes to see the scene in front of me.

"We don't have the tesseract," Thor said weakly. "It was destroyed on Asgard."

Loki looked away from his brother for a moment, then slowly lifted his arm and opened up his hand. I was confused until the glowing blue cube I've heard so much about. It glowed beautifully and made a strange humming noise.

"You really are the worst, brother," Thor managed to spit out.

Loki started taking careful steps forward, looking to Thanos but then glancing down to Thor's ragged form. "I assure you brother," he started. "The sun will shine on us again." He had a plan. I couldn't possibly imagine what it was, but he had one. There's no doubt there.

Thanos, however, laughed. "Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian."

"Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian," Loki said. "And for another... we have a Hulk."

As if on cue, Hulk roared viciously and came charging at Thanos. Thor was dropped and Loki quickly dropped the tesseract to catch his bother. Hulk tackled Thanos close to where I was so I went as close to the ground as I could to not get hit.

I looked over to Loki and Thor to see Loki gently placing Thor down and then getting ready to do something else. What that was, I didn't know. What I did know is that I needed to push my own pain and exhaustion aside to be Hulk's backup.

Carefully flipping to my other side, I watched Hulk get in punch after another, knocking Thanos around into walls and other wreckage. He took a hold of the purple alien and started bashing him into a wall. It dented after every slam and I was optimistic myself for a second.

"Let him have his fun," a voice said behind me. I turned my head to see the creepy nose guy talking to the larger one. My optimism was instantly gone and replaced with my need to get in there. Because that just told me Hulk didn't have much of a chance.

I looked back over and saw Thanos grabbing onto each of Hulk's arms then removing them from himself. Hulk was confused and even a bit scared. Thanos then came in with calculated hits, different than Hulk's rage and chaotic fighting style.

"Oh shit," I breathed out. I managed to get myself to a lunge position and was getting ready to stand up. Then, I was flat on my stomach after getting kicked in the back.

I looked and saw the same child as before. "You belong on the ground, puny Terran."

Ignoring her, I looked back over at the fight. Hulk crashed through an old support column, destroying it completely and disorienting him. Thanos kept giving punch after punch while Hulk could barely stand at this point.

I cringed when Thanos kneed Hulk in the face. Then, my eyes widened as Thanos hoisted Hulk over his head. With a yell, he threw Hulk into the ground. The ground caved under the weight and force.

Hulk wasn't moving and Thanos was just staring down in victory. I was furious now, and sat up just enough to use my arm. That's all I really needed. Forming an orange ball of energy, I threw it his way. It only caused his head to snap to the side. It didn't even look like it hurt.

Now I was scared as Thanos turned to look at me. My insides twisted as he came closer. I had made my move, and now I had to back it up with anything I had left. He was menacing as he came closer and I knew now was the time to make my move or I was gone. Gone gone.

Quickly, I lifted my hand up and thrusted it forward and watched as the orange glow came bursting out and went straight for Thanos. He lifted his gauntlet up to block it, but it stopped him from advancing closer.

Ever so slowly, I decided I had to get up. I started by getting to my knees then sitting back on my calves. When that went well enough, I stood taller- still on my knees. That's when he started to push back. At first, the sudden power going against me made me fumble, but I refused to back down. I grit my teeth together and moved one leg out in front in a lunge. And slowly, I stood.

As I did, I pushed more into the energy. More pushing against him. Thanos started to stumble back a bit, but then I saw the purple glow from the stone and felt him pushing back- so much harder this time. From the corner of my eye, Thor and Loki were still and looked terrified.

I kept myself still and let out a quick yell as I pushed harder against him. It was an attempt to strengthen my energy. Black started to seep into my vision from the outside in.

No, no, no. Please oh god no don't go out now. Please don't go now. I was feeling panic and desperation. I was too exhausted to continue but I had to. My body couldn't take me now, this was the worst possible time to pass out. I'd be killed.

I screamed. The energy burst with it but it wasn't enough. Thanos pushed against me and my back leg gave out, causing me to kneel. No. From the corner of my eye, I saw Loki and Thor again. Loki wasn't moving, but Thor was picking something up.

The black was closing in on my vision. Tears poured from my eyes and I was shaking. My whole body was straining to keep going. Please just keep pushing. Thanos was so close now, the energy a bright orange as it pummeled him.

Then, as if turning off a light switch, it disappeared and I went unconscious, feeling myself collapse to the ground beside me before it all went away. I was still slightly aware of what was around me. But then it disappeared too, in a different way.

I was floating. Then, I was being flown through the air. Flashes of light was all I could see through my eyelids. It reminded me of the Bifrost and when I was traveling with Thor and Loki before we were thrown to Sakaar.

What if that's what's happening now? It was impossible, though- the Bifrost and Asgard were destroyed. I didn't think it was possible to travel without either. But, I knew very little of that stuff and maybe there were other ways to do it. Magic and that kind of stuff.

My thoughts were interrupted when my eyes started to open and I noticed I was being flown by the exact thing I had just been in. Bifrost pathway. Beyond it, I noticed blue skies and skyscrapers.

"Earth," I whispered. Beside me, Hulk was there. He was conscious and I could see the green starting to fade, meaning Banner was coming back.

We kept going until the Bifrost pathway broke through a building and we landed. Hard. I was beside Bruce now, the Hulk having gone.

"Thanos is coming," Bruce breathed to someone above. I looked up and saw Doctor Strange with someone else. "He's coming."iting your story